


In the Waters Below

by CrabbyFins



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Gen, MerMay, Suicidal Thoughts, mermaid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 06:03:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18750511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrabbyFins/pseuds/CrabbyFins
Summary: When there's seemingly nothing left for you, there's always a random fish-man who wants to make you smile.





	In the Waters Below

You’re not sure what you’re doing out here. You’re standing at the end of a dock overlooking the ocean – not that you can see very much right now. It’s dark, its raining, and you’re soaking wet, and the only upside to any of that is the age old phrase – at least no one can see you crying. You’ve lived in this sea-side port town for an entire 3 months, and in that time your life has absolutely fallen apart. You moved here all 200 miles just to live with your partner, only for them to decide that this “Wasn’t working” for them, and leave you homeless in a strange city with no job, no money to your name, and no reason to keep trudging forward. You of course considered momentarily the possibility of moving back to your old city, but there was nothing left for you there anyways, and you had no money that you would need for the arduous journey back. 

And so you find yourself at the end of your rope, and at the end of a dock, and possibly, at the end of the road. The water is like ice, you can tell that simply from the spray slashing up and onto your already wet cheeks. Were you to jump in, you wouldn’t last 20 minutes in the temperature – never mind the face that you’ve never been a very strong swimmer, and the waves are as violent as your thoughts. You look down into the swirling waters, looking for something, anything – you hope it would show you some prophetic vision, a reflection of you, a happier you, something to hope for, anything – but the water stays dark and silent, save for the crash of the waves. 

You hang your head and feel a sob bubble up through you and leave your lips. You’re trembling, or maybe you’re shivering from the rain – you can’t tell at this point. You let yourself slide down onto the wet planks of the wooden dock and swing your legs over the side in defeat. You’re a coward in the end as you have been this entire time, your entire life even. You didn’t have the courage to fight for your lover, you didn’t have the courage to make it on your own without anyone to live for- you couldn’t even put yourself out of your misery. Tears drip down the tip of your nose as you stare into the murky depths. 

“. . .Why are you crying?” A voice startles you from your self-loathing stupor. You jump and whip around, expecting to see someone standing behind you on the dock, but no figure catching your eyes. You turn back to the water, and there, stark against the black of the oceans waves, is the source of a voice. He looks like he could be a man, if one perhaps from a book of fairy tales used to lull young children to sleep. His hair is a fiery red, and over on eye is a starfish – comically resembling an eye patch. He’s shirtless, that much you can tell from the pale exposed shoulders that bob in and out with the rising and falling of the waves. But what really struck you as you observed the ocean-fairing man were the spikes of what appeared to be crimson fins sticking out from the edges of his ears. You must have looked terrified, because he reached out, a worried look crinkling his one visible eye. 

“No, no please don’t be scared, it’s alright. . .” He attempted to reassure you. You were still in shock, however, and your mind, as it oft did, immediately began to attempt to rationalize the strange encounter. Had you succumbed to frostbite simply standing out in the rain? Had you actually jumped, and this was some twisted afterlife? You were snapped from your musings by the feeling of something cold, wet and clammy touching your bare ankle. You gasped and pulled back, looking down at what had touched you – his hand. Specifically, his fingertips, as he reached out to touch you in the only pinprick of comfort he could think to offer. He looked almost hurt by your refusal, and now it was your turn to reassure him. 

“I-I’m sorry, it just surprised me –” Your voice came out rough, probably from crying for so long before this strange encounter distracted you from the reason you had ventured out onto this perilous dock past midnight. A small smile caressed his lips, and it seemed like he relaxed a bit. 

“What are you doing out here. . .?” He repeated, and you paused a moment, before letting a little laugh pop out. It just struck you as comical, that you must have looked a sight, drenched as you were, like a drowned rat. 

“I. . “ You attempted to begin to explain yourself, but more laughter only followed, and you shook your head, looking down and smiling. When you looked back at him, he seemed puzzled, but had a small smile, perhaps glad you at least weren’t crying anymore. 

“My name is Julian.” He said suddenly. He offered his hand to you, and you saw that on the underside of his forearm, a long fin that matched the ones sprouting from his ears flexed with the rest of the muscles of his arm, extending to take your hand. You shook his hand, still a bit startled by the absurdity of the entire situation. “You’re. . .welcome to come here again, perhaps when it’s not raining?” He offered, and you nodded. You had hardly exchanged more than a few words, but he seemed to care that you were most certainly going to get ill if you stayed out in the rain any longer. So you stood, despite yourself, and he smiled at you one last time, before you turned to go. You took one, two steps back towards land, before you turned back to see if he had really been there, if you had really seen him – but as you peered back into the water, where he had been, there was nothing. You looked out towards the horizon, however, and you could barely make out a flash of what looked like a bright red tail splashing out of the water, and then disappearing below the depths again without a trace. 

You made your way back to your hotel in a stupor.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this little drabble. I wrote this for a good friend of mine to cheer them up, I hope you like it Aiden! If I end up writing more, this will be Chapter 1! Please let me know if you'd like to see more!


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